NASHVILLE, TENN. — Murder suspect Matthew McGinnis, wanted for the weekend shooting death of his girlfriend, Nicole Stephens, is deceased. SWAT officers witnessed McGinnis, 35, shoot himself in the head with a semi-automatic pistol this morning inside his 1382 Rural Hill Road townhome. One of the officers also fired virtually simultaneously.
McGinnis had been a fugitive since early Wednesday after detectives swore out a murder warrant alleging that he shot Stephens in his bedroom at the townhome. The body was brought to her Sussex Avenue residence and left in a storage shed. Stephens’ adult son discovered her in the shed Monday night.
At 7:30 Thursday morning, the police department received information that McGinnis had returned to the townhome. When officers arrived, they saw that a front window was broken. They were subsequently informed that McGinnis’ roommate had changed the locks. Believing that McGinnis may have forced entry, officers made repeated announcements over a public address system for him to surrender. There was never any contact with him. Members of the police department’s Special Response Team, who are SWAT trained and respond to high risk arrest situations, were called to respond to the townhome.
Four SWAT trained officers, three sergeants and one detective from the Gang Unit, entered the townhome after receiving a key and consent to search from the roommate. As they made their way through the residence, they continued to verbally announce their presence and called on McGinnis to surrender. After clearing the first level of the townhome, they went to the second floor. Upon breaching the door to a bedroom and entering, the officers saw McGinnis standing at the entrance to a walk-in closet in a bathroom that adjoins the bedroom.
He was holding a semi-automatic pistol to his head and said nothing to the officers. They yelled at McGinnis to not shoot himself. Within seconds, his raised right arm jerked and the self-inflicted round was fired. Almost simultaneously, Gang Unit Detective Chris Key, who is SWAT trained, fired one round from his rifle after seeing the sudden arm movement.
Detective Key, an eight-year MNPD veteran, is on routine administrative assignment while the investigation proceeds. The TBI is conducting the shooting investigation due to McGinnis’ death.
